Anthropology Department

2012 Student Scholars Day

There are various factors that influence nutrition, within social sciences it can be effective to look at geography and type of nutrition. Does the frequency of higher and lesser quality nutrition outlets correlate to economic conditions in an area? Data were gathered from CRI database, USDA Farmers Market Directory, and Google Maps. Number of fast food and healthy alternatives were compared in two sample groups of five neighborhoods each in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In neighborhoods with >15% in poverty, 36 fast food and 14 healthy alternatives were observed. In neighborhoods with 15% of population in poverty and fast food restaurants. Healthy alternatives show noticeable disparity between sample groups, with an observed difference of 1275.81 per capita between samples. The results support the hypothesis showing more poor nutritional outlets in poverty stricken areas.